Similarity analyzing device, image display device, image display program storage medium, and image display method

ABSTRACT

A similarity analyzing device includes: an image acquisition section which acquires picked-up images with which image pick-up dates and/or times are associated; and an image registration section which registers a face image showing a picked-up face and with which an image pick-up date and/or time is associated. The device further includes: a degree of similarity calculation section which detects a face in each of picked-up images acquired by the image acquisition section and calculates the degree of similarity between the detected face and the face in the face image registered in the image registration section; and a degree of similarity reduction section in which the larger the difference between the image pick-up date and/or time associated with the picked-up image and that associated with the face image is, the more the degree of similarity of the face calculated by the degree of similarity calculation section is reduced.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 12/081,415,filed Apr. 15, 2008, which claims priority of Japan Patent Application2007-107222 filed on Apr. 16, 2007, the entire disclosures of which arehereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a similarity analyzing device, an imagedisplay device for displaying a list of picked-up images, an imagedisplay program storage medium, and an image display method, foranalyzing the degree of similarity between plural faces.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, image pick-up devices can be carried with ease because mostcompact equipment such as mobile phones and the like, which are carriedat all times, have an image pick-up device mounted thereon in additionto that digital cameras are rapidly made compact. Since image pick-updevices mounted on digital cameras and compact equipment can acquiredigital picked-up images, the picked-up images can be instantlydisplayed on a liquid crystal display in a field and the like forconfirmation, and unnecessary picked-up images can be deleted beforethey are printed out. Further, when plural picked-up images arecollectively recorded to a recording medium and the like, the picked-upimages can be stored in high image quality without taking up much space.

As a method of effectively putting picked-up images in order,applications for album are widely used to put them in order usingpersonal computers. The personal computers are advantageous in that theycan store a lot of picked-up images without paying any heed to aremaining capacity because they have a large capacity hard disc deviceimages and that a job for copying picked-up images and attaching them toan electronic mail and the like can be easily carried out.

Further, in the field of an image processing, a scene analyzingtechnique for analyzing an image pick-up scene in which an image isbeing picked-up, a face extracting technique for extracting a face beingpicked up, and the like are widely known, and further, in the field ofthe applications for album, an additional function, to which the sceneanalyzing technique and the face extracting technique are applied, isbeing developed. As to this point, there is devised an image displaymethod in which when a face image is previously registered, a picked-upimage, on which a face which resembles the registered face is picked up,is searched from a lot of picked-up images stored in a hard disc deviceand the like and displayed (for example, Japanese Patent ApplicationPublication Nos. 2006-314010 and 2004-172849). According to the imagedisplay method, even if a lot of picked-up images are stored, apicked-up image on which a friend, a family, and the like are picked upcan be easily searched and attached to an e-mail and the like, thereby acommunication can be improved.

The face extracting technique described above and the like ordinarilyextracts a face by searching an image portion having a characteristicshape in a picked-up image such as eyes, a nose, a mouth, and the like.Therefore, there are problems such as one that when it is intended tosearch, for example, a picked-up image on which a daughter is picked up,even a picked-up image of her mother whose face in her early daysresembles that of the daughter in the respective portions of the face isalso searched, and another one that it is difficult to discriminatebabies having a roundish shape in the respective portions of their facesfrom each other.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides asimilarity analyzing device, an image display device, an image displayprogram storage medium, and an image display method capable ofaccurately analyzing a degree of similarity between the face image of apredetermined person and a face being picked up.

A similarity analyzing device according to the present inventionincludes:

an image acquisition section which acquires a plurality of picked-upimages with which image pick-up dates and/or times are associated;

an image registration section which registers a face image which shows apicked-up face and with which an image pick-up date and/or time isassociated;

a degree of similarity calculation section which detects a face of eachof the plurality of picked-up images acquired by the image acquisitionsection and calculates the degree of similarity between the detectedface and the face in the face image registered in the image registrationsection; and

a degree of similarity reduction section in which the larger adifference between the image pick-up date and/or time associated withthe picked-up image and the image pick-up date and/or time associatedwith the face image is, the more the degree of similarity of the facecalculated by the degree of similarity calculation section is reduced.

According to the similarity analyzing device of the present invention,the larger the difference between image pick-up date and/or time of thepicked-up image and that of the face image is, the more the degree ofsimilarity between the face in a picked-up image and the face in aregistered face image is reduced. When, for example, the face image of adaughter is registered, the degree of similarity calculation sectioncalculates a high degree of similarity between the face image of thedaughter and a picked-up image on which a mother of the daughter in heryoung days is picked up. However, since the image pick-up dates and/ortimes of these picked-up images are greatly different from each other,the degree of similarity reduction section greatly reduces thecalculated degree of similarity. As described above, since thesimilarity analyzing device of the present invention takes thedifference between the image pick-up dates and/or times, at which theimages were picked up, into consideration, in addition to the degree ofsimilarity between the faces in the images, the degree of similarity canbe accurately analyzed.

In the similarity analyzing device of the present invention, it ispreferable that the image registration section registers a face imagewith which an age is associated in addition to the image pick-up dateand/or time, and in the degree of similarity reduction section, thelarger the difference is, the more the degree of similarity is reduced,as well as the degree of similarity is reduced according to the age.

Ordinarily, although the face of a person greatly changes in his or herchildhood, the face less changes when the person becomes an adult. Thus,the accuracy of calculation of the degree of similarity can be improvedby greatly reducing the degree of similarity in the age of a child andsuppressing the reduction of the degree of similarity in the age of anadult.

An image display device of the present invention includes:

an image acquisition section which acquires a plurality of picked-upimages with which image pick-up dates and/or times are associated;

an image registration section which registers a face image which shows apicked-up face and with which an image pick-up date and/or time isassociated;

a degree of similarity calculation section which detects a face of eachof the plurality of picked-up images acquired by the image acquisitionsection and calculates the degree of similarity between the detectedface and the face in the face image registered in the image registrationsection;

a degree of similarity reduction section in which the larger adifference between the image pick-up date and/or time associated withthe picked-up image and the image pick-up date and/or time associatedwith the face image is, the more the degree of similarity of the facecalculated by the degree of similarity calculation section is reduced;and

an image display section which displays the plurality of picked-upimages acquired by the image acquisition section in descending order ofdegree of similarity.

According to the image display device of the present invention, even ifa lot of picked-up images are stored, a picked-up image, on which pickedup is a face having a large degree of similarity to the face of apredetermined person in the picked-up images, can be effectivelyconfirmed.

In the image display device of the present invention, it is preferablethat the image registration section registers a face image with which anage is associated in addition to the image pick-up date and/or time, andin the degree of similarity reduction section, the larger the differenceis, the more the degree of similarity is reduced, as well as the degreeof similarity is reduced according to the age.

According to this preferable image display device, the degree ofsimilarity between the face in a face image and the face in a picked-upimage can be more accurately calculated.

In the image display device of the present invention, it is preferablethat the image display section display a three-dimensional space havingan axis of the degree of similarity and dispose the picked-up image atthe position of the degree of similarity of the picked-up image reducedby the degree of similarity reduction section on the three-dimensionalspace.

The degree of similarity between the face in a face image and the facein a picked-up image can be easily calculated by the position at whichthe picked-up image is disposed on the three-dimensional space.

It is preferable that the image display device of the present inventioninclude an auxiliary display section which displays a two-dimensionalspace having an axis of the degree of similarity and disposes a mark atthe position of the degree of similarity of the picked-up image reducedby the degree of similarity reduction section on the two-dimensionalspace to show that the picked-up image exists.

When a lot of picked-up images are arranged and disposed sequentiallyfrom a picked-up image in descending order of degree of similarity,there is a possibility whether the picked-up images are present or notcannot be found because the positions at which they are disposedoverlap. The existence of picked-up images can be easily recognized bydisposing and displaying the marks on the two-dimensional space inaddition to the display by the image display section.

It is preferable that the image display device of the present inventionfurther include:

a designation section which designates the degree of similarity on thetwo-dimensional space by displaying a designation frame along an axisdifferent from the axis of the degree of similarity on thetwo-dimensional space, and moving the designation frame along the axisof the degree of similarity; and

a display control section which causes the image display section todispose the picked-up image having the degree of similarity designatedby the designation section on a foremost surface in a three-dimensionalspace.

It is preferable that the image display device of the present inventioninclude an image number display section which displays the number of thepicked-up images having the degree of similarity designated by thedesignation section

According to this preferable image display device, the number of thepicked-up images having the degree of similarity designated by thedesignation section can be easily confirmed.

In the image display device of the present invention, it is preferablethat the data acquisition section acquire a plurality of picked-upimages from a storage section in which the plurality of picked-up imagesare stored.

According to this preferable image display device, even if a lot ofpicked-up images are stored in a hard disc device and the like, apicked-up image, on which a face which resembles the face in aregistered face image is picked up, can be easily confirmed.

An image display program storage medium of the present invention storesan image display program which is executed and constructs in a computer:

an image acquisition section which acquires a plurality of picked-upimages with which image pick-up dates and/or times are associated;

an image registration section which registers a face image which shows apicked-up face and with which an image pick-up date and/or time isassociated;

a degree of similarity calculation section which detects a face of eachof the plurality of picked-up images acquired by the image acquisitionsection and calculates the degree of similarity between the detectedface and the face in the face image registered in the image registrationsection;

a degree of similarity reduction section in which the larger adifference between the image pick-up date and/or time associated withthe picked-up image and the image pick-up date and/or time associatedwith the face image is, the more the degree of similarity of the facecalculated by the degree of similarity calculation section is reduced;and

an image display section which displays the plurality of picked-upimages acquired by the image acquisition section in descending order ofdegree of similarity.

Note that only the basic feature of the image display program storagemedium is described, but this is only to avoid a duplication, and theimage display program storage medium according to the present inventionis not limited to the above basic feature and includes various featurescorresponding to the respective various features of the image displaydevice described above.

Further, in the elements such as the image acquisition section and thelike which are constructed on a computer system by the image displayprogram of the present invention, one element may be constructed by oneprogram part or a plurality of elements may be constructed by oneprogram part. Further, these elements may be constructed so as toexecute the operations thereof by themselves or may be constructed so asto execute the operations by instructing other program and program partassembled to the computer system.

Further, an image display method of the present invention includes:

an image acquisition step which acquires a plurality of picked-up imageswith which image pick-up dates and/or times are associated;

an image registration step which registers a face image which shows apicked-up face and with which an image pick-up date and/or time isassociated;

a degree of similarity calculation step which detects a face of each ofthe plurality of picked-up images acquired by the image acquisition stepand calculates the degree of similarity between the detected face andthe face in the face image registered in the image registration step;

a degree of similarity reduction step in which the larger a differencebetween the image pick-up date and/or time associated with the picked-upimage and the image pick-up date and/or time associated with the faceimage is, the more the degree of similarity of the face calculated inthe degree of similarity calculation step is reduced; and

an image display step which displays the plurality of picked-up imagesacquired in the image acquisition step in descending order of degree ofsimilarity.

According to the image display method of the present invention, even ifa lot of picked-up images are stored, a picked-up image, on which a facehaving a high degree of similarity to the face of a predetermined personis picked up, can be efficiently confirmed in the lot of picked-upimages.

Note that only the basic feature of the display method is also describedhere, but this is only to avoid a duplication, and the display methodaccording to the present invention is not limited to the above basicfeature and includes various features corresponding to the respectivevarious features of the image display device described above.

According to the present invention, the degree of similarity between theface of a predetermined person and the face in a picked-up image can beaccurately analyzed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an outside appearance view of a personal computer to which anembodiment of the present invention is applied;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the personalcomputer;

FIG. 3 is a conceptual view showing a CD-ROM in which an image displayprogram is stored;

FIG. 4 is a function block diagram of a picked-up image display device;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of a processing for displaying alist of picked-up images executed in an image pick-up date/time mode;

FIG. 6 is a conceptual view showing an example of a three-dimensionalspace;

FIG. 7 is a conceptual view showing an example of a two-dimensionalspace;

FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of a display screen on which athree-dimensional image, a two-dimensional image, and a scroll bar aredisplayed;

FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of the display screen after a popupwindow is displayed;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a registration screen;

FIG. 11 a flowchart showing a flow of a processing executed in a personmode;

FIG. 12 is a view showing an example of a person selection screen;

FIG. 13 is a conceptual view showing an example of the three-dimensionalspace;

FIG. 14 is a view showing an example of a person display screen on whichthe three-dimensional image, the two-dimensional image, and the scrollbar are displayed; and

FIG. 15 is a view showing an example of the person display screen aftera degree of similarity is switched.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below referringto the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an outside appearance view of a personal computer to which anembodiment of the present invention is applied.

A personal computer 100 includes a main body device 101, an imagedisplay device 102, a keyboard 103, and a mouse 104. The image displaydevice 102 displays an image on a display screen 102 a in response to aninstruction from the main body device 101, the keyboard 103 inputsvarious types of information to the main body device 101 in response toa key operation, and the mouse 104 designates an arbitrary position onthe display screen 102 a and inputs an instruction according to, forexample, an icon and the like displayed at the position. Further,although not shown, the main body device 101 has a CD/DVD mounting port,to which a DVD or a CD-ROM is mounted, and an FD mounting port to whicha flexible disc (hereinafter, abbreviated as FD) is mounted.

FIG. 2 is a diagrams showing an internal configuration of the personalcomputer 100.

As shown in FIG. 2, the main body device 101 includes in its inside aCPU 111, a main memory 112, a hard disc device 113, a CD/DVD drive 114,an FD drive 115, and a communication interface 116. The CPU 111 executesvarious types of programs, the main memory 112 is used such that theprograms stored in the hard disc device 113 are read out thereto anddeveloped therein so that they are executed by the CPU 111, the harddisc device 113 stores the various types of the programs, data, and thelike, the CD/DVD drive 114 accesses a CD-ROM 300 or a DVD when it ismounted thereon, the FD drive 115 accesses a FD 310 when it is mountedthereon, and the communication interface 116 is connected to an externaldevice such as a digital camera and the like and transmits and receivesdata to and from the external device. These various types of elementsare connected to the image display device 102, the keyboard 103, and themouse 104, which are also shown in FIG. 2, through a bus 105.

The CD-ROM 300 stores an image display program to which an embodiment ofthe image display program storage medium of the present invention isapplied. The CD-ROM 300 is mounted on the CD/DVD drive 114, and theimage display program stored in the CD-ROM 300 is uploaded to thepersonal computer 100 and stored in the hard disc device 113. When theimage display program is started and executed, a picked-up image displaydevice 500 (refer to FIG. 4), to which an embodiment of the displaydevice of the present invention is applied, is constructed in thepersonal computer 100.

Next, the image display program executed in the personal computer 100will be described.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual view showing the CD-ROM 300 to which the imagedisplay program is stored.

The image display program 400 is composed of an instruction section 410,a capture section 412, a registration section 413, an picked-up imageinformation/image acquisition section 414, a position calculationsection 415, a two-dimensional image creation section 416, athree-dimensional image creation section 417, an analyzing section 418,a display section 419, an emphasis display section 420, an image storagesection 421, a number display section 422, and a control section 423.The analyzing section 418 includes a face extraction section 4181, adegree of similarity calculation section 4182, a difference calculationsection 4183, and a degree of similarity determination section 4184. Therespective sections of the image display program 400 will be describedin detail together with the operations of the respective sections of thepicked-up image display device 500.

Note that although the CD-ROM 300 is used as an example of the imagedisplay program storage medium of the present invention, but the imagedisplay program storage medium of the present invention is not limitedto the CD-ROM and may be a storage medium such as an optical disc, MO,FD, a magnetic tape, and the like other than the CD-ROM. Further, thedisplay program of the present invention may be directly supplied to thecomputer through a communication network without using the storagemedium.

FIG. 4 is a function block diagram of the picked-up image display deviceconstructed in the personal computer 100 when the image display program400 is installed on the personal computer 100 shown in FIG. 1.

The picked-up image display device 500 shown in FIG. 4 includes aninstruction section 511, a capture section 512, a registration section513, a picked-up image information/image acquisition section 514, aposition calculation section 515, a two-dimensional image creationsection 516, a three-dimensional image creation section 517, ananalyzing section 518, a display section 519, an emphasis displaysection 520, an image storage section 521, a number display section 522,a control section 523, and a storage section 501. The analyzing section518 further includes a face extraction section 5181, a degree ofsimilarity calculation section 5182, a difference calculation section5183, and a degree of similarity determination section 5184. When theimage display program 400 shown in FIG. 3 is installed on the personalcomputer 100 shown in FIG. 1, the instruction section 410 of the imagedisplay program 400 constructs the instruction section 511 of FIG. 4. Inthe same manner, the capture section 412 constructs the capture section512, the registration section 413 constructs the registration section513, the picked-up image information/image acquisition section 414constructs the picked-up image information/image acquisition section514, the position calculation section 415 constructs the positioncalculation section 515, the two-dimensional image creation section 416constructs the two-dimensional image creation section 516, thethree-dimensional image creation section 417 constructs thethree-dimensional image creation section 517, the analyzing section 418constructs the analyzing section 518, the face extraction section 4181constructs the face extraction section 5181, the degree of similaritycalculation section 4182 constructs the degree of similarity calculationsection 5182, the difference calculation section 4183 constructsdifference calculation section 5183, the degree of similaritydetermination section 4184 constructs the degree of similaritydetermination section 5184, the display section 419 constructs thedisplay section 519, the emphasis display section 420 constructs theemphasis display section 520, the image storage section 421 constructsthe image storage section 521, the number display section 422 constructsthe number display section 522, and the control section 423 constructsthe control section 523.

The respective elements of FIG. 4 are different from the respectiveelements of the image display program 400 shown in FIG. 3 in that theformer elements are composed of a combination of hardware of thecomputer and OS and application programs executed by the computer,whereas the latter elements are composed of only the applicationprograms.

The respective elements of the picked-up image display device 500 shownin FIG. 4 will be described below, by which the respective elements ofthe image display program 400 shown in FIG. 3 will be also described.

The picked-up image display device 500 shown in FIG. 4 shows a list ofpicked-up image data which represents the images of a picked-up subjectas well as records the picked-up image data selected by a user to arecording medium and the like.

When a digital camera or a recording medium, to which picked-up imagesare recorded, is connected to the personal computer 100 shown in FIG. 1,the capture section 512 captures picked-up images to which picked-upimage information such as image pick-up date/time, image pick-upconditions, and the like is attached. The captured picked-up image dataand the picked-up image information are transmitted to the registrationsection 513.

The registration section 513 creates thumbnail images by reducing thepicked-up images represented by the picked-up image data transmittedfrom the capture section 512 and stores the picked-up image data to thestorage section 501 together with the picked-up image information andthe thumbnail images.

The hard disc device 113 shown in FIG. 2 has the role of the storagesection 501 and stores the picked-up image data representing thepicked-up images, the picked-up image information indicating the imagepick-up conditions, the image pick-up dates/times, and the like of thepicked-up images and the thumbnail images in which the picked-up imagesare reduced as a set. The storage section 501 corresponds to an exampleof the storage section according to the present invention.

The picked-up image display device 500 of the embodiment has an “imagepick-up date/time mode” and a “person mode”. In the “image pick-update/time mode”, the picked-up images stored in the storage section 501are arranged and displayed based on image pick-up date/time, and, in the“person mode”, a face image is previously registered, and the picked-upimages stored in the storage section 501 are arranged and displayed inthe sequence in which they have a higher degree of similarity to theface of the registered face image. An image pick-up date/time button forexecuting the “image pick-up date/time mode” and a person button forexecuting the “person mode” are previously prepared. First, how a listof the picked-up images is displayed in the “image pick-up date/timemode” will be described.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of a processing for displaying thelist of picked-up images executed in the image pick-up date/time mode.

When the user selects the image pick-up date/time button using the mouse104 and the like, the instruction section 511 of FIG. 4 instructs thepicked-up image information/image acquisition section 514 to execute the“image pick-up date/time mode”.

When it is instructed to display the list, the picked-up imageinformation/image acquisition section 514 acquires the thumbnail imagesand the picked-up image information stored in the storage section 501(steps S1 and S2 of FIG. 5). The thumbnail images are created byreducing the picked-up images and are equal to the data corresponding tothe picked-up images. The acquired picked-up image information istransmitted to the position calculation section 515, and the acquiredthumbnail images are transmitted to the three-dimensional image creationsection 517.

The position calculation section 515 calculates a three-dimensionalposition, to which the image pick-up date/time included in the picked-upimage information transmitted from the picked-up image information/imageacquisition section 514 corresponds, on a three-dimensional space, whichhas three axes, that is, an axis sectioning one day to each four hours,an axis further sectioning the four hours to each one hour, and an axisshowing one day and calculates a two-dimensional position, whichcorresponds to the three-dimensional position, on a two-dimensionalspace having two axes, that is, an axis sectioning one day to each fourhours and an axis showing one day (step S3 of FIG. 5).

FIG. 6 is a conceptual view showing an example of the three-dimensionalspace, and FIG. 7 is a conceptual view showing an example of thetwo-dimensional space.

As shown in FIG. 6, the three-dimensional space is applied to theembodiment, where the three-dimensional space has a Y-axis (longitudinaldirection) showing values acquired by sectioning one day to each fourhours, an X-axis (lateral direction) showing values acquired by furthersectioning the four hours allocated to the Y-axis to each one hour, andZ-axis (depth direction) showing one day.

Values 2, 3, 4 starting from 1 are sequentially allocated to the X-axisof the three-dimensional space, and a value, which is acquired by adding1 to the value acquired by dividing the “HH o'clock” of an image pick-update/time (YYYY year, MM month, DD date, PP minutes past HH o'clock) by4, is obtained as a value on the X-axis.

Respective four hours of 19 o'clock to 16 o'clock, . . . , 7 o'clock to4 o'clock, 3 o'clock to 0 o'clock are sequentially allocated to theY-axis of the three-dimensional space using the four hours from 23o'clock to 20 o'clock as a start point. A value acquired by dividing the“HH o'clock” of the image pick-up date/time (YYYY year, MM month, DDdate, PP minutes past HH o'clock) by 4 is obtained as a value on theY-axis.

Yesterday, the daybefore yesterday, . . . , are sequentially allocatedto the Z-axis of the three-dimensional space from today as a startpoint, and a value on the Z-axis is calculated based on an image pick-update/time (YYYY year, MM month, DD date, PP minutes past HH o'clock).

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the two-dimensional space is applied in theembodiment, where the two-dimensional space has an X-axis (lateraldirection) showing values acquired by sectioning one day to each fourhours and a Y-axis (longitudinal direction) showing one day.

Likewise the Y-axis of the three-dimensional space shown in FIG. 6,respective four hours of from 19 o'clock to 16 o'clock, . . . , from 7o'clock to 4 o'clock, and from 3 o'clock to 0 o'clock are sequentiallyallocated to the X-axis of the two-dimensional space using the fourhours from 23 o'clock to 20 o'clock as a start point, and the values onthe Y-axis in the three-dimensional space are calculated as the valueson the X-axis in the two-dimensional space as they are.

Yesterday, the daybefore yesterday, . . . , are sequentially allocatedto the Y-axis of the two-dimensional space from today as a start point,and the values on the Z-axis in the three-dimensional space arecalculated as the values on the Y-axis in the two-dimensional space asthey are.

When, for example, plural images are picked up in the same time zone ofthe same date, plural positions are calculated in correspondence to the“HH o'clock”s as the image pick-up dates/times of the respectivepicked-up images as the positions on the three-dimensional space.However, the same position is calculated for the plural picked-up imagesas the position on the two-dimensional space. That is, a mark on thetwo-dimensional space shows that one or more picked-up images picked-upin the same time zone of the same date exist.

The position calculated on the two-dimensional space (two-dimensionalposition) is transmitted to the two-dimensional image creation section516, and the position calculated on the three-dimensional space(three-dimensional position) is transmitted to the three-dimensionalimage creation section 517.

The two-dimensional image creation section 516 creates a two-dimensionalimage in which the mark showing that the picked-up image exists isdisposed at the two-dimensional position on the two-dimensional spacetransmitted from the position calculation section 515 (step S4 of FIG.5). The created two-dimensional image is transmitted to the displaysection 519.

The control section 523 instructs the display section 519 to display ascroll bar along the Y-axis on the two-dimensional space.

The three-dimensional image creation section 517 creates athree-dimensional image in which the thumbnail images transmitted fromthe picked-up image information/image acquisition section 514 aredisposed at the positions transmitted from the position calculationsection 515 on the three-dimensional space (step S5 of FIG. 5). Thecreated three-dimensional images are transmitted to the display section519.

Further, the number display section 522 calculates the number of thepicked-up images to be displayed on the foremost surface on thethree-dimensional image, and the calculated number of the picked-upimages is transmitted to the display section 519.

The display section 519 displays the two-dimensional image transmittedfrom the two-dimensional image creation section 516, thethree-dimensional image transmitted from the three-dimensional imagecreation section 517, the scroll bar instructed by the control section523, and the number of the picked-up images transmitted from the numberdisplay section 522 on the display screen 102 a (step S6 of FIG. 5).

FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of the display screen 102 a on whicha three-dimensional image 600, a two-dimensional image 620, and thescroll bar 623 are displayed.

Note that in an initial state in which it is instructed to display thelist as well as the three-dimensional image 600, the two-dimensionalimage 620, and the scroll bar 623 are displayed, only a region showing aperiod of one week from today as a start point is displayed in thethree-dimensional image 600 and the two-dimensional image 620.

In the three-dimensional image 600 shown in FIG. 8, the thumbnail images610 of the images picked up on the same date are arranged and displayedon the same surface. The positions of the thumbnail images 610 on theY-axis show the time zones (each four hours) in which the images shownby the thumbnail images 610 are picked up, and the positions of thethumbnail images 610 on the X-axis show the times of each one hour inthe time zones shown by the Y-axis. When, for example, the position ofthe thumbnail images 610 on the Y-axis is “8 o'clock to 11 o'clock”, andthe position thereof on the X-axis is “2”, it is shown that thethumbnail images 610 are picked-up at “9 o'clock” which is a secondearlier time in the time zones “8, 9, 10, and 11 o'clock” shown by thepositions on the Y-axis. Further, an image pick-up date/time button 631,which is used to display the list of the picked-up images according tothe “image pick-up date/time mode”, and a person button 632, which isused to display the list of the picked-up images according to the“person mode” are also displayed side by side in the three-dimensionalimage 600.

As described above, according to the picked-up image display device 500of the embodiment, since the thumbnail images of the images picked up onthe same date are arranged on the same surface in the three-dimensionalimage 600, the images picked up, for example, in a school entranceceremony can be confirmed collectively.

Further, the two-dimensional image 620 shown in FIG. 8 displays marks621 at the positions, which correspond to the positions at which therespective thumbnail images 610 are disposed on the three-dimensionalimage 600, on the two-dimensional space in which each four hours are setto the X-axis and a date is set to the Y-axis. The marks 621 show theexistence of the images which are picked up on the “date” shown by theY-axis in the “time zone” shown by the X-axis. Whether or not imagespicked up on a predetermined date exist can be easily confirmed bylooking at the two-dimensional image 620.

Further, the two-dimensional image 620 also displays the scroll bar 623,a frame 622, a number display section 624, a period change button 625,and a date change button 626. The scroll bar 623 extends along theY-axis (date) and designates a date on the two-dimensional image 620,the frame 622 surrounds the range of the date selected by the scroll bar623, the number display section 624 shows the number of the imagespicked up on the image pick-up date surrounded by the frame 622, theperiod change button 625 switches the period described above, and thedate change button 626 switches the date.

The image pick-up date surrounded by the frame 622 is the image pick-update of the picked-up images displayed on the foremost surface on thethree-dimensional image 600, and the number of the images picked up onthe same date can be easily recognized by confirming the number displaysection 624.

Further, when a right button of the mouse indicating a pointer 601 isclicked, a popup window 640 for selecting the thumbnail images isdisplayed.

FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of the display screen 102 a afterthe popup window 640 is displayed.

The popup window 640 shown in FIG. 9 provides a “depth menu”, a “rowmenu”, and a “surface menu”. The “depth menu” is used to collectivelyselect the thumbnail images of the images picked up in the same timezone, the “row menu” is used to collectively select the thumbnail imagesof the images picked up in the same time zone of the same date, and the“surface menu” is used to collectively select the thumbnail images ofthe images picked up on the same date.

When the user selects the thumbnail images 610 using the popup window640 (step S7 of FIG. 5: Yes), designated contents are transmitted fromthe instruction section 511 of FIG. 4 to the emphasis display section520 which displays the selected thumbnail images 610 and the marks 621corresponding to the thumbnail images 610 in an emphasized fashion (stepS8 of FIG. 5). In an example of FIG. 9, the “surface menu” of the popupwindow 640 is designated by the user, and the thumbnail images 610,which show the images picked up on the same date are collectivelyselected and displayed in the emphasized fashion (displayed by beinglit). Further, the marks 621, which are disposed on the two-dimensionalimage 620 at the positions corresponding to the pick-up dates/times ofthe images represented by the selected thumbnail images 610 are alsodisplayed in the emphasized fashion (voided display). As describedabove, since the selected thumbnail images and the mark imagescorresponding to the thumbnail images are displayed in the emphasizedfashion, when the images represented by the thumbnail images currentlyselected were picked-up can be visually confirmed easily.

When the user clicks the mouse 104 shown in FIG. 1 on the right sidethereof in the state that the thumbnail images 610 are selected, a popupwindow is displayed to store the picked-up images of the selectedthumbnail images 610 to a recording medium.

When the user selects an instruction displayed on the popup window usingthe pointer 601 (step S9 of FIG. 5: Yes), the contents of theinstruction are transmitted to the image storage section 521 of FIG. 4.The image storage section 521 acquires the picked-up image data of theselected thumbnail images 610 from the storage section 501, and thepicked-up image data is stored in DVD (not shown) and the like mountedin place of the CD-ROM 300 on the personal computer 100, through theCD/DVD drive 114 shown in FIG. 2 (step S10 of FIG. 5).

As described above, according to the “image pick-up date/time mode”,since a lot of picked-up images are stored in the storage section 501,even if the thumbnail images are overlapped in a depth direction on thethree-dimensional image 600, on what day an image pick-up operation wasexecuted and the like can be easily recognized by looking at thetwo-dimensional image 620.

The flow of the processing according to the “image pick-up date/timemode” has been described above, and the flow of a processing accordingto the “person mode” will be described next.

When the “person mode” is executed, a face image on which the face of aperson is previously picked up is registered. A registration screen ispreviously prepared to the picked-up image display device 500 toregister a face image. When the user selects a display button fordisplaying the registration screen by the mouse, the instruction section511 shown in FIG. 4 instructs the image pick-up information/imageacquisition section 514 to display the registration screen. The imagepick-up information/image acquisition section 514 acquires the picked-upimages stored in the storage section 501 and the acquired picked-upimages are transmitted to the face extraction section 5181. The faceextraction section 5181 extracts images of the faces in the picked-upimages. The extracted images of the faces are transmitted to the displaysection 519, and the display section 519 displays the registrationscreen on the display screen 102 a.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the registration screen.

The registration screen 710 shown in part (A) of FIG. 10 displays faceimages 720 extracted from the picked-up images stored in the storagesection 501. Further, the registration screen 710 is provided with anext button 712, a return button 711, a determination button 713, and acancel button 714. The next button 712 is used to display face images720 of a next page, the return button 711 is used to display face images720 of a previous page, the determination button 713 is used todetermine set contents, and the cancel button 714 is used to cancel theset contents. In the embodiment, plural face images 720 can beregistered for one person. When the user selects the face image 720 of apredetermined person from the face images 720 displayed on theregistration screen 710 and depresses the determination button 713, aninformation input screen 730 for inputting the information of the personis displayed.

The information input screen 730 shown in part (B) of FIG. 10 displaysthe face images 720 selected on the registration screen 710 shown inpart (A) of FIG. 10. Further, the information input screen 730 isprovided with a personal name input portion 731 for inputting a personalname, a birthday input portion 732 for inputting the birthday of aperson, and a registration button 733 for determining set contents. Whenthe user inputs the names and the birthdays of the persons, thebirthdays are transmitted to the difference calculation section 5183shown in FIG. 4. The difference calculation section 5183 calculates theages of the persons, who have the faces in the face images 720, when theimages thereof were picked up (hereinafter, called image pick-up timeages) based on the input birthdays and the image pick-up dates ofpicked-up images used as the sources of the face images 720. Thecalculated ages are transmitted to the display section 519 and displayedon an age display portion 721 of the information input screen 730. Whenthe user selects the registration button 733, person information, whichshows the image pick-up dates/times of the picked-up images used as thesources, the names and the birthdays of the persons, and the imagepick-up time ages, are caused to correspond to the face images 720, anda set of the face images 720 and the person information is registered inthe storage section 501 through the capture section 512 and theregistration section 513. The registration section 513 is an example ofthe image registration section according to the present invention, and aprocessing for registering a person corresponds to an example of theimage registration step in the image display method of the presentinvention.

When the user selects the person button 632 shown in FIG. 8, theinstruction section 511 of FIG. 4 instructs the image pick-upinformation/image acquisition section 514 and the analyzing section 518to execute the “person mode”.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a flow of a processing executed by theperson mode.

When it is instructed to execute the “person mode”, the image pick-upinformation/image acquisition section 514 acquires the set of the faceimages 720 and the person information registered to the storage section501 and transmits the person information to the display section 519. Thedisplay section 519 displays a person selection screen on the displayscreen 102 a to select a person.

FIG. 12 is a view showing an example of the person selection screen.

The person selection screen 740 displays the names of the personsregistered in the storage section 501, and radio buttons 741 aredisplayed in parallel with the names of the persons to select oneperson. When the user selects one person using the mouse 104 and thelike and depresses a determination button 742, selected contents aretransmitted to the image pick-up information/image acquisition section514 (step S11 of FIG. 11).

When the person is selected, the image pick-up information/imageacquisition section 514 acquires the plural picked-up images and theimage pick-up information stored in the storage section 501 and the faceimage 720 and the person information of the select person, transmits theplural picked-up images to the face extraction section 5181, transmitsthe face image 720 and the person information of the selected person tothe degree of similarity calculation section 5182, and transmits theimage pick-up information and the person information to the differencecalculation section 5183 and the degree of similarity determinationsection 5184. The image pick-up information/image acquisition section514 corresponds to an example of the image acquisition section accordingto the present invention, and the processing for acquiring the pluralpicked-up images corresponds to an example of the image acquisition stepin the image display method of the present invention.

The face extraction section 5181 extracts faces from the pluralpicked-up images. Since a processing for extracting a face in an imageis widely executed conventionally, the detailed description thereof isomitted. The extracted face image is transmitted to the degree ofsimilarity calculation section 5182.

The degree of similarity calculation section 5182 calculates thetentative degree of similarity between the face image 720 and each ofthe faces extracted from the plural picked-up images (step S12 of FIG.11). Since a technique for calculating the degree of similarity of thefaces included in plural images is widely used in a personauthentication system and the like, the detailed description thereof isomitted. A combination of the face extraction section 5181 and thedegree of similarity calculation section 5182 corresponds to an exampleof the degree of similarity calculation section according to the presentinvention, and the processing for extracting a face in a picked-up imageand calculating the degree of similarity between the extracted face andthe registered face image 720 corresponds to an example of the degree ofsimilarity calculation step in the image display method of the presentinvention.

When it is assumed that the person in the picked-up image is the personin the face image 720 based on the image pick-up date/time included inthe image pick-up information which is caused to correspond to theplural picked-up images, on the image pick-up date/time included in theperson information which is caused to correspond to the face image 720,and on the image pick-up time age included in the person information,the difference calculation section 5183 calculates the age of the personwhen the image of the person was picked up (hereinafter, called anassumed age) (step S13 of FIG. 11). The calculated assumed age istransmitted to the degree of similarity determination section 5184.

The degree of similarity determination section 5184 reduces thetentative degree of similarity calculated by the degree of similaritycalculation section 5182 based on the assumed age calculated by thedifference calculation section 5183 and on the image pick-up time age ofthe person in the face image 720 and determines the degree of similaritybetween the face in the face image 720 and the face in the picked-upimage (step S14 of FIG. 11). A combination of the difference calculationsection 5183 and the degree of similarity determination section 5184corresponds to an example of the degree of similarity reduction sectionaccording to the present invention, and the processing at step S13 forreducing the tentative degree of similarity corresponds to an example ofthe degree of similarity reduction step according to the presentinvention. In the embodiment, the reduction ratio of degree ofsimilarity is previously determined to each age.

Table 1 shows an example of the reduction ratio of degree of similarityfor each age.

TABLE 1 Age Reduction ratio 0-1 20% 1-2 20% 2-3 10% 3-4 10% . . . 10%19-20 10% 20-21 10% 22-23 5% . . . 5%

Each time the image pick-up time age approaches the assumed age by oneyear, the degree of similarity is reduced from the tentative degree ofsimilarity by the reduction ratio shown in Table 1. When, for example,the image pick-up time age of the person in the face image 720 is fiveand the assumed age of the person in the picked-up image to be analyzedis one, the reduction ratio of the degree of similarity is calculated bythe following expression.

Reduction ratio (ages 1→5)=[Reduction ratio 20 for ages 0-2]+[Reductionratio 10 for ages 2-3]+[Reduction ratio 10 for ages 3-4]+[Reductionratio 10 for ages 4-5]=50%

The degree of similarity of the assumed age (one year old) of the personin the picked-up images with respect to the person (five years old) inthe face image 720 is calculated by the following equation.Degree of similarity=Tentative degree of similarity×(100−Reduction ratio(50))

In the embodiment, the larger the difference between the assumed age andthe image pick-up time age is, the more the reduction ratio increases.When, for example, the face of a mother in her young days well resemblesthe face of her daughter at present, a large tentative degree ofsimilarity is calculated based on the shapes of their faces. However,since the pick-up date/time of a picked-up image on which the face ofthe mother in her young days is picked up is greatly different from theimage pick-up date/time of the face image on which the face of thedaughter at present is picked up, the assumed age of the picked-up imageis greatly different from the image pick-up time age of the face image,and thus the reduction ratio is increased. As a result, according to theimage display device of the embodiment, even the faces of a parent and achild who resemble well and the like can be accurately determined.

Further, in the embodiment, when the assumed age and the image pick-uptime age are in between zero and two, the degree of similarity isgreatly reduced, whereas when they exceed the age of twenty, thereduction ratio of the degree of similarity is suppressed. Although mostof children of two years or less have a similar face of a roundish shapein its entirety, when they become about two years or more, their faceschange from each other in many cases. On the contrary, when personsbecome older than twenty years, their faces ordinarily change gently.Therefore, the degree of similarity between the face in the face images720 and the face in the picked-up image can be accurately analyzed byincreasing the reduction ratio of the degree of similarity from ageszero to two and suppressing the reduction ratio of the degree ofsimilarity of the years exceeding the age of twenty.

The degrees of similarity between the plural picked-up images calculatedas described above are transmitted to the position calculation section515.

The position calculation section 515 calculates a three-dimensionalposition, to which the degree of similarity transmitted from the degreeof similarity determination section 5184 corresponds, on athree-dimensional space, which has three axes, that is, an axis showinga picked-up time zone, an axis showing an image picked-up date, and anaxis showing a degree of similarity and calculates a two-dimensionalposition, which corresponds to the three-dimensional position, on atwo-dimensional space having two axes, that is, an axis showing theimage pick-up time zone and an axis showing the degree of similarity(step S3 of FIG. 11).

FIG. 13 is a conceptual view showing an example of the three-dimensionalspace.

As shown in FIG. 13, in the embodiment, the three-dimensional space isapplied which has the X-axis (lateral direction) showing the imagepick-up time zone, the Y-axis (longitudinal direction) showing the imagepick-up date, and the Z-axis (depth direction) showing the degree ofsimilarity.

Respective six hours of from 10 o'clock to 15 o'clock, from 16 o'clockto 21 o'clock, and from 22 o'clock to 3 o'clock are sequentiallyallocated to the X-axis of the three-dimensional space using the sixhours from 4 o'clock to 9 o'clock as a start point.

The image pick-up dates/times are sequentially allocated to the Y-axisof the three-dimensional space from a later one.

The degrees of similarity 80 to 61, 60 to 41, . . . , are sequentiallyallocated to the Z-axis of the three-dimensional space from the degreesof similarity 100 to 81 as a start point.

Further, in the embodiment, the two-dimensional space is applied whichhas the X-axis (lateral direction) showing the image pick-up time zoneand the Z-axis (longitudinal direction) showing the degree ofsimilarity.

The position calculation section 515 calculates the position on thetwo-dimensional space (two-dimensional position) and the position on thethree-dimensional space (three-dimensional position) based on the degreeof similarity transmitted from the degree of similarity determinationsection 5184 and the image pick-up date/time of the picked-up image. Thecalculated two-dimensional position is transmitted to thetwo-dimensional image creation section 516, and the three-dimensionalposition is transmitted to the three-dimensional image creation section517.

The two-dimensional image creation section 516 creates thetwo-dimensional image (step S4 of FIG. 11), the three-dimensional imagecreation section 517 creates the three-dimensional image (step S5 ofFIG. 11), and the number display section 522 calculates the number ofthe picked-up images to be displayed on the foremost surface on thethree-dimensional image.

The display section 519 displays the two-dimensional image created bythe two-dimensional image creation section 516, the three-dimensionalimage created by the three-dimensional image creation section 517, thescroll bar, and the number of the picked-up images calculated by thenumber display section 522 on the display screen 102 a (step S6 of FIG.11). A combination of the three-dimensional image creation section 517and the display section 519 corresponds to an example of the displaysection according to the present invention, a combination of thetwo-dimensional image creation section 516 and the display section 519corresponds to an example of the auxiliary display section according tothe present invention, and a combination of the number display section522 and the display section 519 corresponds to an example of the imagenumber display section according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a view showing an example of a person display screen 800 onwhich three-dimensional images 810 to 850, a two-dimensional image 620,and a scroll bar 623 are displayed.

The person display screen 800 displays the five three-dimensional images810, 820, 830, 840, and 850 on which picked-up images each having adifferent degree of similarity band are disposed. These fivethree-dimensional images 810, 820, 830, 840, and 850 are disposed in theZ-axis direction (depth direction) in the sequence of athree-dimensional image having a larger degree of similarity band withthe three-dimensional image 810 having the largest degree of similarityband disposed on a foremost surface. In the three-dimensional image 810on the foremost surface, the thumbnail image 610 s of the picked-upimage including the face having a degree of similarity (which is 100 to81) as large as that of the face in the face image 720 selected at stepS11 are arranged and displayed on the same surface. The positions of therespective thumbnail images 610 on the Z-axis show the degrees ofsimilarity of the picked-up images that are the sources of the thumbnailimages 610, the positions of the respective thumbnail images 610 on theY-axis show the image pick-up dates/times of the picked-up images thatare the sources of the thumbnail images 610, and the positions of therespective thumbnail images 610 on the X-axis show the image pick-uptime zones of the picked-up images that are the sources of the thumbnailimages 610.

As described above, according to the picked-up image display device 500of the embodiment, since the thumbnail images of the picked-up imagesincluding faces having approximately the same degree of similarity arearranged on the same surface in the three-dimensional image 600, even ifa lot of picked-up images are stored, a picked-up image including a facewhich resembles a desired face can be easily found from the picked-upimages.

Further, plural marks 621′, which extend along the X-axis (image pick-uptime zone), are disposed on the two-dimensional image 620 and showrespective degrees of similarity. Further, the two-dimensional image 620also displays the scroll bar 623, which extends along the Y-axis (degreeof similarity) and designates a degree of similarity on thetwo-dimensional image 620, the frame 622, which surrounds the mark 621′showing the degree of similarity selected by the scroll bar 623, thenumber display section 624, which shows the number of the picked-upimages from which the degree of similarity selected by the scroll bar623 is calculated, and the like.

When the user scrolls the scroll bar 623, the instruction section 511shown in FIG. 4 switches a degree of similarity in response to an amountof scroll, and the switched degree of similarity is transmitted to thecontrol section 523. The control section 523 instructs thetwo-dimensional image creation section 516 and the three-dimensionalimage creation section 517 to switch the degree of similarity to therebymove the frame 622 on the two-dimensional image 620 to the position ofthe switched degree of similarity as well as to dispose thethree-dimensional image having the switched degree of similarity againso that it is displayed on the foremost surface. The instruction section511 corresponds to an example of the designation section according tothe present invention, and the control section 523 corresponds to anexample of the display control section according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 15 is a view showing an example of the person display screen 800after the degree of similarity is switched.

In FIG. 15, the frame 622 surrounds the mark 621′ which shows a seconddegree of similarity, the number display section 624 shows the number ofthe picked-up images which belong to the second degree of similarity.Further, the three-dimensional image 820, on which the thumbnail images610 of the picked-up images having the second degree of similarity bandare disposed, is displayed on a foremost surface.

The user can easily switch the three-dimensional image to be displayedby making use of the scroll bar 623.

Further, as shown in FIG. 14, when the user clicks the right button ofthe mouse indicating the pointer 601, a popup window 640′ is displayedto select a thumbnail image.

The popup window 640′ shown in FIG. 14 provides a “surface menu” and a“row menu”. The “surface menu” is used to collectively select thethumbnail images showing the picked-up images which belong to the samedegree of similarity band, and the “row menu” is used to collectivelyselect the thumbnail images showing the picked-up images which belong tothe same degree of similarity band and were picked up on the same imagepick-up date.

When the user selects a thumbnail image 610 using the popup window 640′(step S7 of FIG. 11: Yes), designated contents are transmitted from theinstruction section 511 of FIG. 4 to the emphasis display section 520 ofFIG. 4, and the emphasis display section 520 displays a selectedthumbnail image 610 and a mark 621 corresponding to the thumbnail image610 in the emphasized fashion (step S8 of FIG. 11) likewise the “imagepick-up date/time mode” shown in FIG. 5.

Further, when the user clicks the mouse 104 shown in FIG. 1 on the rightside thereof in the state that the thumbnail image 610 is selected, apopup window is displayed to store the picked-up image of the selectedthumbnail image 610 to the recording medium.

When the user selects an instruction displayed on the popup window usingthe pointer 601 (step S9 of FIG. 11: Yes), instructed contents aretransmitted to the image storage section 521 of FIG. 4, and thepicked-up image data of the selected thumbnail image 610 is stored inthe DVD (not shown) and the like mounted on the personal computer 100(step S10 of FIG. 11).

As described above, according to the embodiment, the degree ofsimilarity between the face image of a predetermined person and the facein a picked-up image can be accurately analyzed, and the result ofanalysis can be displayed so that it can be viewed easily.

The embodiment described so far is the first embodiment of the presentinvention, and subsequently a second embodiment of the present inventionwill be described. The second embodiment of the present invention hasthe same arrangement as that of the first embodiment except that amethod of reducing a degree of similarity in a degree of similaritydetermination section of the second embodiment is different from that ofthe first embodiment. Hereinafter, only the features of the secondembodiment different from those of the first embodiment will bedescribed.

In an image display device of the embodiment, plural face images 720,which have image pick-up times different from each other, are registeredto one person as shown in part (B) of FIG. 10.

When the degree of similarity determination section 5184 shown in FIG. 4reduces a tentative degree of similarity calculated by a degree ofsimilarity calculation section 5182, first, a reduction ratio iscalculated using the plural registered face images 720.

In the embodiment, a picked-up image is compared with a latest faceimage 720 of plural registered face images 720. When, for example, theassumed age of a person in the picked-up image is one and the imagepick-up time age of the latest face image 720 is five, first, the degreeof similarity between the face image 720 at the age of five and the faceimage 720 at the age of one is calculated. Subsequently, the degree ofsimilarity of the picked-up image is calculated using the tentativedegree of similarity calculated by the degree of similarity calculationsection 5182 and the calculated degree of similarity between the faceimages using the following equation.Degree of similarity=Tentative degree of similarity×(Degree ofsimilarity between face images 720/100)

As described above, the degree of similarity can be also accuratelyanalyzed by analyzing how the face of a registered person changes as theperson ages and making use the result of analysis as a reduction ratio.

Although the example in which thumbnail images are created whenpicked-up images are registered has been described above, the imagedisplay section according to the present invention may create thumbnailimages when a list of picked-up images is displayed.

Further, although the example in which a face image is selected from thestored picked-up images has been described above, the image registrationsection according to the present invention may input a face image froman external device.

1. An image display device comprising a memory and a processing circuit to execute a program for performing a process, the process comprising: acquiring a plurality of picked-up images with which image pick-up dates and/or times and an age are associated from the memory; registering a face image which shows a picked-up face and with which an image pick-up date and/or time is associated; detecting a face of each of the plurality of picked-up images acquired by the acquiring; calculating the degree of similarity between the face detected by the detecting and the face in the face image registered by the registering; reducing the degree of similarity of the face calculated by the calculating according to a degree of reducing in which as a difference between the image pick-up date and/or time associated with the picked-up image and the image pick-up date and/or time associated with the face image increases, the degree of reducing gradually increases and which is also based on the age; and first displaying the plurality of picked-up images acquired by the acquiring in descending order of degree of similarity.
 2. An image display device comprising a memory and a processing circuit to execute a program for performing a process, the process comprising: acquiring a plurality of picked-up images with which image pick-up dates and/or times and an age are associated from the memory; registering a face image which shows a picked-up face and with which an image pick-up date and/or time is associated; detecting a face of each of the plurality of picked-up images acquired by the acquiring; calculating the degree of similarity between the face detected by the detecting and the face in the face image registered by the registering; reducing the degree of similarity of the face calculated by the calculating according to a degree of reducing in which as a difference between the image pick-UP date and/or time associated with the picked-up image and the image pick-up date and/or time associated with the face image increases, the degree of reducing gradually increases and which is also based on the age; and first displaying the plurality of picked-up images acquired by the acquiring in descending order of degree of similarity; wherein the first displaying includes displaying a three-dimensional space having an axis of the degree of similarity and disposes the picked-up image at the position of the degree of similarity of the picked-up image reduced by the reducing on the three-dimensional space.
 3. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the process further comprises: second displaying in an auxiliary manner a two-dimensional space having an axis of the degree of similarity; and disposing a mark at the position of the degree of similarity of the picked-up image reduced by the degree of similarity reduction section on the two-dimensional space to show that the picked-up image exists.
 4. An image display device comprising a memory and a processing circuit to execute a program for performing a process, the process comprising: acquiring a plurality of picked-up images with which image pick-up dates and/or times and an age are associated from the memory; registering a face image which shows a picked-up face and with which an image pick-up date and/or time is associated; detecting a face of each of the plurality of picked-up images acquired by the acquiring; calculating the degree of similarity between the face detected by the detecting and the face in the face image registered by the registering; reducing the degree of similarity of the face calculated by the calculating according to a degree of reducing in which as a difference between the image pick-UP date and/or time associated with the picked-up image and the image pick-up date and/or time associated with the face image increases, the degree of reducing gradually increases and which is also based on the age; first displaying the plurality of picked-up images acquired by the acquiring in descending order of degree of similarity; second displaying in an auxiliary manner a two-dimensional space having an axis of the degree of similarity; disposing a mark at the position of the degree of similarity of the picked-up image reduced by the degree of similarity reduction section on the two-dimensional space to show that the picked-up image exists; designating the degree of similarity on the two-dimensional space by displaying a designation frame along an axis different from the axis of the degree of similarity on the two-dimensional space, and moving the designation frame along the axis of the degree of similarity; and causing the first displaying to dispose the picked-up image having the degree of similarity designated by the designating on a foremost surface in a three-dimensional space.
 5. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the process further comprises third displaying the number of the picked-up images having the degree of similarity designated by the designating.
 6. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the acquiring includes acquiring the plurality of picked-up images from memory in which the plurality of picked-up images are stored.
 7. A non-transitory image display program storage medium that stores an image display program which is executed in a computer to perform a process, the process comprising: acquiring a plurality of picked-up images with which image pick-up dates and/or times and an age are associated; registering a face image which shows a picked-up face and with which an image pick-up date and/or time is associated; detecting a face of each of the plurality of picked-up images acquired by the acquiring; calculating the degree of similarity between the face detected by the detecting and the face in the face image registered by the registering; reducing the degree of similarity of the face calculated by the calculating according to a degree of reducing in which as a difference between the image pick-up date and/or time associated with the picked-up image and the image pick-up date and/or time associated with the face image increases, the degree of reducing gradually increases and which is also based on the age; and displaying the plurality of picked-up images acquired by the acquiring in descending order of degree of similarity.
 8. An image display method comprising: acquiring a plurality of picked-up images with which image pick-up dates and/or times and an age are associated; registering a face image which shows a picked-up face and with which an image pick-up date and/or time is associated; detecting a face of each of the plurality of picked-up images acquired by the acquiring; calculating the degree of similarity between the face detected by the detecting and the face in the face image registered by the registering; reducing the degree of similarity of the face calculated by the calculating according to a degree of reducing in which as a difference between the image pick-up date and/or time associated with the picked-up image and the image pick-up date and/or time associated with the face image increases, the degree of reducing gradually increases and which is also based on the age; and displaying the plurality of picked-up images acquired in the acquiring in descending order of degree of similarity. 